


Two Breaths Walking

by Kou (Rietto)



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Dysfunctional Relationships, Gen, I think Celty and Shinra broke Izaya, Izaya is intrigued at their change, Raijin Days, Shinra gives him more to think about tho, grade school days, highschool days, middle school days, the twins love Izaya
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-05
Updated: 2014-09-13
Packaged: 2018-02-16 06:13:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2258958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rietto/pseuds/Kou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set after the stabbing incident.</p><p>Izaya didn't care about the twins, he had other things filling his mind. <br/>Or did he?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was a normal day.

… Perhaps normal was an understatement.

It was a boring day. It started boring, with usual actions, and usual bugging from his sisters, and as expected it stayed boring until the very end.

Like usual, the black haired middle schooler named Orihara Izaya went home after school, of course after doing his usual habit of finding people's data. Unfortunately nothing interesting happened that day, and so he went home in a quite bad mood.

Human had always been unpredictable.

Things like heart, love, emotion, and other silly what-nots interfered too much to their judgments, and so for him who (at some level) always think objectively, other people had always been intriguing. Always different, always unexpected, and that's why he loved people.

Other people but his family members.

They were all boring, in his opinion. His mother, father and two sisters for some odd reason always did what he expected. Not only that, the reasons behind them were also predictable. It got into his nerves how they never faltered. They're so human, yet somehow inhuman in his eyes.

Unfortunately that day, the rest of human beings seemed to resemble his family so.

He entered his house like usual, both of his parents were out somewhere. His sisters were supposed to be in the house, but they weren't at the living room playing games, or at the backyard and judging from the lack of light on their room, they were most definitely not in there too.

The lack of noise certainly mean they were not in the bathroom.

…  _That means…_

Izaya sighed at the revelation.

The only place left they could be at that moment was none other than his room.

He rushed upstairs and opened the door with a bang, surprising the two children that were reading on his bed. The long haired one, Mairu, fell from the bed while Kururi merely jolted and stared wide eyed at her brother.

"What are you girls doing here?"

"Reading."

Both answered in unison.

Izaya sighed once more, his hands on his hips and his head shaken. "I wonder why you decided to do it in my room… Even though here I'm envying you who have the widest most comfortable room in this house. Ha, should we trade then?" he said with a hint of sarcasm as he unbuttoned his black uniform, revealing red t-shirt underneath. After that he proceeded to put his bag on the table and sat on the swivel chair.

Mairu grinned as she climbed to the bed, while Kururi smiled.

It was then that Izaya realized the book on Mairu's hand.

"… Mairu… what's that on your hand?"

Her grin got wider as she said proudly, "Porn magazine!"

Kururi nodded. On her hand was also porn magazine.

After a heartbeat, Kururi added, "Brother's... bed... (Izaya Onii-sama's. We found them under your bed)"

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Iza-nii! I always think that normal boy should have at least one of these! Why, if you find a boy who doesn't have one you can be almost sure that he's gay! Though I certainly don't have problem with gay people. I myself had this revelation today at school after I accidentally on purpose pinned Kuru-nee and kissed her on the lips! I love Kuru-nee!"

"… naughty…"

Izaya certainly couldn't believe his ears. That morning the two of them were still normal first grader. Too normal that they were almost invisible. Kururi still talked normally with voice loud enough to hear, and Mairu certainly did not speak that much.

And he was sure that in the morning they had no interest at all in porn. It's even questionable if they knew what porn was then.

"Okay. As much as I'm glad with your revelation and your amusing opinion about me and porn, who are you and what have you done to my sisters?"

Even though he said this, it's hard to hide the Cheshire like grin that was now plastered on his face.

Kururi was the one who answered, "… Evil… family (How rude. We're really your sisters.)"

"True true! How rude, Iza-nii! It was you who said that we're boring because we're too quiet and invisible, and honestly I don't get why you called us invisible when we're certainly not transparent!" Mairu puffed her cheeks in annoyance.

That morning, Izaya had said to the two twin girls the following statement.

"You two are too boring."

And really, for Kururi and Mairu, it was as if thunder had stroke in broad day light. It was too shocking to hear.

"O... Onii-chan... what do you mean?" Mairu trembled slightly, and it was felt by Kururi. The elder sister's grip on the others hand got tightened.

"Didn't you hear me? You too are boring. You have the same personality, same figure, same ability. How freaking boring!" The older boy turned and grinned. His eyes were narrowed, and to the two girls he looked somewhat like a demon.

Yes, the way his red eyes seemed to be twinkling was very demonic.

"You're worthless. There are thousands, no, millions of twins like you in Japan alone! And yet, you use the boring fact that you're twins as 'cute-factor'? Don't make me laugh."

What the two girls did was normal. They wore their newly bought matching jackets and ran hand in hand to their beloved brother. The hoodies had cat ears on them, and people all said that they're so cute in it.

Izaya's reaction was unexpected, to say the least.

"What? Can't say anything in response? See? This is why you two are..."

"Tell us what we should do."

Perhaps because she realized that her twin was already crying, Kururi braved herself to ask her brother. Izaya folded his hands, ooh-ed as he's a bit impressed with Kururi.

"What you should do? Why do I have to tell you girls that? What's in it for me?"

"..."

"As I thought."

Little did Izaya know that his action then would change their very lives.

That morning, this conversation happened as the two children walked together to their school.

"Kururi Onee-chan... Onii-chan hates us, doesn't he?"

The older twin shook her head. "No. Of course not. Onii-chan is just in a bad mood today."

"But, Onee-chan... Isn't that because we're boring as he said?"

"... No. I don't think so."

Kururi only said that to calm her sister, and Mairu knew it.

They then walked in silence until the school became visible. Mairu kept her head down, managing to walk without run into anything because Kururi held her hand and walked on the side closer to the street.

Kururi couldn't take it.

She stopped suddenly and said...

"Mairu-chan. If you're still bothered, I have an idea. It'll be hard to do, but I'm sure Onii-chan will be happy if we do it."

"We just have to be different. Right now, our hairstyle is the only thing that makes us different. So, we just have to accentuate our contrast even more. If we're different, I'm sure Onii-chan would not call us boring anymore."

Mairu blinked and tilted her head to the side. "A... accentuate?"

"... to make clear."

Her mouth then formed a plump O as she nodded in understanding. "I see... I understand. Let's do it, Onee-chan! So, what should we do?"

Looking her sister already full of spirit once more, Kururi walked again, a contented smile plastered on her pretty face. Mairu followed her like a lost puppy.

"Mairu-chan, why do you like that pair from RPG game we played?"

"Well, they're funny and interesting."

"And why are they funny and interesting?"

"Because they're so synced, they could be one person. Even though their personalities are..."

Kururi smiled when Mairu paused. It seemed like she understood.

"The complete opposite... Onee-chan, you're a genius!"

Mairu jumped and hugged her sister as she laughed in delight. People around them gave them odd looks, but the two were too focused on their plan to please their brother to pay attention. They ran to their class and sat on their usual spot at the back near the window.

"Nice jacket, Orihara!"

One boy shouted from across the room. Indeed, for some odd reason they had their hoodies on, and the matching cat ears managed to make them look cuter than usual, just as everyone said the day before. They flashed identical smiles to the boy and said thank you.

No one knew who the boy was praising.

None cared. They both looked equally eye-catching.

The twins didn't care too. They sat down and started to plan out their transformation. Even if the whole world said they were cute and lovely, it wasn't enough until their brother said so.

Izaya was... their beloved.

"Okay, first, let's list the traits out. I think our look shouldn't be our priority, though put it down as reminder."

"Right! We must fix our act first!"

"... and besides... I like being called your twin. I don't want to forget that."

"Hehe, Onee-chan, what are you saying? We're not twins, right?"

Mairu laughed as she wrote the traits of her favorite hero with her sloppy handwriting. Her sister had already forgotten something important that she said earlier.

"We're going to be so different, we can't live without each other."

"And so, we're going to become one... No, we're already one."

Kururi blinked in surprise and averted her gaze from her sister. Her cheeks had turned red from embarrassment. Mairu was quoting the character from the game they played, more specifically his proposing dialogue.

"What are you saying, so embarrassing..."

Mairu merely laughed hearing that. She kept on writing until she couldn't think of anything anymore. Looking to her side, Kururi's list was even longer than hers.

"... Now what?"

"We divide these. And swear we'll do things differently starting now."

"For Onii-chan."

"Yeah. For Onii-chan."

They linked their pinkies together and smiled.

And then, as they all say, the rest was history.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Izaya wasn't with them when they decided to change.

That being said, he knew that he's the cause of their sudden change of attitude, but how they did it was unknown to Izaya. In retrospect, it bugged him. He narrowed his eyes as he watched his sisters chatted happily about porn, trying to find more things that had changed from her sisters.

One day wasn't enough. They lapsed back to their original persona quite often after all.

He found them often on his room, and he liked their presence there. It made it easier for him to study the girls. They didn't seem to mind to. Rather, they seemed happy Izaya studied them.

"Nii… Iza-nii… We're not boring right? We're different right?"

Mairu once asked as she snuggled close to him. It was one time when Izaya leaned on the wall as he read, and the twins lay asleep on either side of him. Mairu's eyes were closed, so she could be talking on her sleep.

He ran his hand on her hair, feeling a bit weird when she giggled.

It was pleasant. When there're no data to find, it's great to know that there're two people at home still need figuring out. Seeing the process of their changes, getting bolder and clearer was fun.

He realized a lot of things. Mairu had transformed her look into more and more like a geeky girl, even so her attitude was changing dangerously close to a pervert. Izaya thought that with her being a six year old and all, she's just saying things. Though… Kururi's blush on certain remarks of hers did bring up question marks. Kururi might be a masochist, he thought.

One day, he went home and found the two at his room, reading porn magazines like usual, and he found physical change on one of the girls. Not the change of style, but…

"Kururi..."

The older twin looked up and tilted her head in respond.

"Who cut your hair?"

Izaya was already playing with scissors from his table when he said that. He could see from the corner of his eyes that Mairu's eyes widened in surprise, even so Kururi didn't react. Next second, Mairu jumped and shielded her sister.

"No one bullied her! Iza-nii, put the scissors down! You're scaring Kuru-nee!"

And with that, Izaya understood everything.

He sighed and said in mocking voice, "How cruel. I'm not a bully, you know. I'm just..."

"A very concerned brother."

To Mairu's surprise, he jumped.

Mairu's height was a meter, give or take few centimeters, but Izaya jumped over her. Mairu saw him folding his legs as he avoided impact with her head, and he leaned forward a bit. His arms were outstretched, one holding a scissors and the other strangely forming a claw.

He's very much like a tiger jumping from the bush to... well, ambush its prey.

When Mairu realized it, Izaya had already on the bed above Kururi, sitting on her back. He had his hands on Kururi's head, the scissors laid next to her. Kururi didn't move at all.

Rather, she couldn't. Mairu could see her sister's face almost as white as the sheet.

"... Let me ask you again, Kururi. Who cut your hair?"

Kururi's hair had always been shorter than Mairu's. Even so, in Izaya's eyes her hair was shorter than last time he saw her and the end had become strangely uneven. It's not that visible, but Izaya could somehow see it. He found some slash wound on the back of her neck, clearly because she must have struggled when someone tried to cut her hair forcefully.

"Swear... (I promised I won't tell.)"

"Kururi, seriously. Do you think you can hide things from me? Even if you don't tell me, I can find it out in seconds. Just spare me the trouble. Ah, Mairu, don't interfere. You don't want your beloved sister, or lover is it now? Whatever... You don't want Kururi to get hurt right?"

Looking at Mairu wanting to push him away from Kururi, Izaya took the scissors again, much to Mairu's horror. He then crawled to the edge of the bed, leaning on the wall before pulling Kururi to his lap like a pet owner moving its sleeping cat.

The sound of scissors echoed in the room.

"So, Kururi. Who was it? Who thought that you're a stuck up girl who only knows how to act cute and attract everyone like whore? Or was it Mairu who got called that?"

Mairu flinched hearing that. Even though Izaya was focusing on Kururi's hair damage, clicking his tongue when he found the shortest strands of hair, he noticed Mairu's subtle twitch.

"… Bull's eye? How predictable."

"No (It's not like that at all)…" Kururi said.

"Then tell me."

"…"

"Kururi. Is it because your sudden change of character?"

The girls both shook their head.

Izaya's eyebrows rose. "That's a surprise. So why?"

Mairu climbed to the bed and sat next to him, facing him while had her eyes locked on her sister. It's as if they're having secret conversation. They looked at each other, and after few long seconds, Kururi nodded her head. And then, they opened their mouths and said in unison…

" _It's because… of Onii-chan…"_

Izaya stopped moving for a minute before pointing at himself and asked incredulously. "Me?"

As much as Izaya loved creating trouble, he didn't remember ever going to his elementary school after graduating. How could the twins even be bullied because of him? He's a perfect student! He's vice precident of student council, for crying out loud! His reputation should have made them famous in the good way.

"Someone called you murderer for stabbing Shinra-san, and… I… kinda got mad at her," Mairu said.

'… _Oh.'_

' _That incident, huh?'_

"So by promise you mean you promised yourself, and Mairu? Because you don't want me to know?"

The twins nodded. Izaya sighed.

"And then you somehow became a bullying target? You should have just ignored her!"

"But Onii-chan is not a murderer… I don't want to admit that. Onii-chan is so kind. You can't be a bad person."

"Idiot. You give me too much credit."

He flashed a hollow smile. Neither knew how to respond to it. Once again the sound of scissors echoed in the room as Izaya started cutting Kururi's hair. Kururi got stiffer, but after few seconds she breathed out and relaxed once more.

Izaya was different. He stopped cutting whenever Kururi moved, only starting again when she stopped moving as if he's waiting for her to say stop.

"Onii-chan… you're so gentle…"

"Stop saying that. Though I'm not a murderer, as if I can kill a human, I am a bad person. You shouldn't get too close to me."

"But, Onii-chan really is gentle. You never lay a hand on us. The worse you ever did was calling us boring."

"… so, Onii-chan. Why did you stab Shinra-san?"

"There's a lot of reason. First, he's annoying. Second, he's annoying. Third, I can't take him anymore."

"Yet you bring him home a lot. Don't tell me he's your uke?"

"Mairu, I have no idea where you learnt that word, but you're wrong. I'm not gay! Would a gay have porn magazines?"

"It's still sealed when we found it. You never read it at all."

"I was a fool to expect you to think nicely of me. Well, I guess I can let it slide this time. Okay, I guess this is enough. How's it, Kururi? If you don't like it I can take you to hairstylist."

Kururi touched the end of her hair and blushed. She shook her head. "Like (You did a good job)."

"At least go see yourself in the mirror first…"

"I approve, Iza-nii! Kuru-nee looks good. You have a knack on this!"

"Oh, you're back in character. Very good."

Izaya patted the two girls and they giggled. The red eyed teens watched in amusement as the twins once again snuggled close to him, trusting him completely. They were pure, good children, and if possible he'd love it if they stay that way forever.

Although…

If they become different…

'…  _interesting.'_

"Mairu, Kururi. Let me tell you something good."

The two looked up to their brother, smiles getting wider as they found the older boy smiled sweetly at them.

"I'll teach you how to give lessons to idiotic bullies."


	3. Chapter 3

"… What's with that smile, you're giving me the creeps."

Shinra looked at his 'friend' with disgusted expression. He was examining the carnivorous plants as usual, while Izaya sat not far behind him as he made some sort of list. To everyone it'd look like the two were doing usual club work.

"This is my face, Shinra. I can't help it."

"That's your plotting face. What're you plotting?"

"How cruel. You think that badly of me? I'm not plotting anything."

It was a blatant lie and Shinra knew it. Actually, Shinra had learnt that when it comes to human observation, he's pretty much the same with himself. He'd do anything just to observe, including lie, just like Shinra would do anything to love Celty.

Shinra already knew what went on his head. If Izaya told Shinra, Shinra would tell Celty about it, and Celty would probably make Shinra bug him all day. Well, not that it'd stop him or anything, but after three years it got boring and Izaya was simply couldn't stand the nagging anymore.

"Give me the list."

"No."

"Doctor's order. Or I'll tell the world it's not you who stabbed me."

Izaya stopped writing and stared disbelievingly at the bespectacled boy. He was smiling deviously, clearly happy because he had found something that he could use for blackmail for a long time. The red-eyed boy then sighed and grudgingly handed the list over.

Shinra raised an eyebrow.

"Observation notes?"

"I have just found out that my hobby brings money, and because my brain has its limit, I decided to start making notes. Happy?"

"Actually I don't really care. My love told me to ignore you now. But, observing your sisters? This is a bit too much even for you… What's this… Transformation sequence?"

Izaya laughed when Shinra's eyes widened. "No, Shinra. My sisters are not magical girls. They're just on the age when they're looking for their true self, and decided to change their persona. I'm just observing their changes."

"… Izaya, they're six. I don't know much about psychology, but at that time usually they're just… plain curious. Their personalities shouldn't have completed yet!"

"I know. Kids mature fast these days, huh?"

Shinra narrowed his eyes as he studied Izaya's expression. He's so gleeful. It's very likely that he's behind the girls' transformation.

"Day 1… Major transformation. Mairu talks more, Kururi talks less. Though they lapse back often… and sudden interest in porn? Probable cause… my comment this morning?"

He really was the cause!

Shinra turned his head and glared his 'friend'. The red eyed boy shrugged. "It's no big deal."

"No big deal? Day 11, Kururi got bullied, taught them how to beat bullies. Knowing you, there'll be chaos in their school you know."

Izaya laughed once more. "No worries. I just taught them basic human psychology. What could happen?"

It's Izaya. His tone was the same when he created gamble organization, which resulted in Shinra's stabbing. Shinra massaged his pounding temple and sighed.

"Elaborate. Exactly what did you teach them?"

Izaya leaned back and folded his hands to cushion his head. He closed his eyes as the memory of the last evening came back to mind.

_"I'll teach you how to give lessons to idiotic bullies."_

He had said that to the girls. They both looked up to him, and tilted their heads curiously.

"Bad? (To get back is wrong, isn't it?)"

"Only bullies would say that, Kururi. Yes, to hurt someone is wrong, but sometimes we got to do what we got to do. I'd like to call it self-preservation. Though to do that violence is not always necessary."

Izaya patted his sister's head as he lectured them. "Listen here, you're bullied right? I swear, when I was your age the most bully could do was scribble on desks! Anyway, bullying is not good. We need to stop bullies. You're with me so far, yes?"

They nodded. The girls also wondered what bad movie the bully watched until she decided to be use violence. "I blame the internet. It's all because of the violence there."

"Hush, you can't blame internet. A lot of good things can be found there. Like for homework, or self-defense. I found parkour there, you know? Anyway, stop bullying. But, we can't create bad image for ourselves. If you tell the teachers, your friend would think bad of you. "

True. In school, there are usually many groups clashing with each other. Nerds with jocks was one example. Even so, the number one rule was that students can't ask for teacher's help for personal problem related to other students. It's an unsaid rule, and one who disobeys it would be outcast.

The girls understood, despite the confusion. Why was the rule necessary? Even so, the fact that no one had told the teachers made it clear that the rule would not be broken.

"… if we can't tell the teachers on her, then we can't do anything!"

"Now, Mairu, that's not true. In fact, there's one way to do it. You just have to make it very clear that you're bullied. Make it so that the teacher couldn't help but to notice. Sometimes to win, you don't need to be strong. You just need to look so weak, people want to help you."

"You know, Iza-nii, you actually make sense. It's surprising!"

"... I'm wondering if I have good image or not in your mind. Whatever. I can only guarantee the end of the bullying though. I can't say anything about your relationship with your classmates, just so you know."

Kururi nodded. She tugged on Izaya's shirt, prompting him to look her straight on her eyes. She looked different, Izaya realized. Not because he cut her hair, but her expression had become softer. She seemed genuinely happy with Izaya's advice.

"Okay. (I don't mind that.)"

"Iza-nii, you're really nice as we thought! Makes me loves you even more! I don't care about the rest of the classmates anyway. As long as I have Kuru-nee, I'm good."

"Stop with the cheesy compliment. So then, I've told you the basic idea, can you do the rest yourself?"

The girls nodded. They looked at each other before giggling. They really were twins. Izaya knew they were close, but seeing they communicate without actually saying a word was still amazing.

"We're off to school then, Iza-nii! We have a message to write!"

And with that, the two of them jumped and ran out of the room. Exactly ten seconds later, Kururi went back and said timidly, "Thanks. (Onii-sama, you're the best.)"

…

..

.

"Izaya?"

Izaya looked as if he was in trance. Shinra waved his hand in front of Izaya's eyes until he blinked, seemingly snapped out of it.

"Hm? Oh, sorry about that. I taught them… 'David and Goliath'. To beat someone you don't have to be strong, or violent. No dangerous material, yes?"

Shinra folded his arm and sighed. He was sure that in his trance, Izaya was deciding things he couldn't say.

"… if the elementary school got destroyed, I'm blaming you."

* * *

In Raijin Elementary, there's panic in Orihara twins' class.

Well, to say it was panic would be an overstatement. The most appropriate word perhaps would be… surprise. Even so in the children's eyes there was horror. On the board, written with permanent ink was curses aimed to a certain graduate of the school.

The teacher knew. It's quite shocking news after all that one of Raijin's best students stabbed someone, though most dismissed it simply as accident or stress driven action. Anyone can snap. Besides, his sisters adored him. When it's like that, it means he's a good child at home right?

Even so, what's written was only the last name, and so the teachers had to think of the writings on the board as bullying attempt to the two girls who shared his last name. Though, when she look at the older of the two, her hair cut and neck covered with slash wound, she thought it wasn't that farfetched.

' _0rihara iz murberer!'_

The teacher sighed.

"Who wrote this?"

All children on the class had their eyes focused on their tables. Of course no one would confess. All knew that they're in deep trouble. The handwriting was terrible. Some were written backwards. Obviously it was written by a member of the class, who still couldn't write that well. Actually, it seemed rather funny because of it.

One boy then timidly raised his hand.

"Izumi-kun?"

"Eh, uhm… I'm not the one who did it… But, I've seen Ori… I mean, Kururi-chan got bullied a lot. Mairu-chan always tries to protect her, but it's often done when she's not with her. So…"

' _Figured so…'_

"And? Who's the bully?"

After about three seconds, the children turned their head to a certain little girl who trembled. The teacher sighed once more. She had her hand massaging her temple, muttering 'I knew it' under her breath.

The girl was… the worst writer in class. She'd write many letters backwards without her textbook.

"… I… I don't know anything! It wasn't me!"

No one believed her.

"Kojima, Orihara, come with me. The rest of you self-study."

And then, the four of them left the room, with Kojima looking pathetic with her tear stained face. The boy who was called Izumi exhaled as he held his chest. The class then became loud as if on cue. He looked to his back, and scanned the class.

All were asking each other why in the world Kojima would write such things on board.

"She's always been horrid, so it's no wonder, right?"

"Yeah. She got what she deserved."

"It's her fault anyway."

Izumi buried his face on his arms and laughed, unnoticed by the rest of the class.

" _Well played."_


	4. Chapter 4

The twins returned half an hour later with a smile on both of their faces. Kojima didn't return with them, so Izumi figured that she's still talking with the teacher. She'd probably be severely punished, if not expelled. It's appropriate.

Kojima deserved it. The children who had thought of her badly would start to avoid her too. All in all, it's a very nice end.

_'Well played...'_

Izumi had realized something weird.

When he came that morning, the writing had already been there. Coincidentally, he was the first to come, and so he knew that the writing could only be written the day before.

The weird thing was, if it's true, then the culprit should have had lots of time. There's no reason why Kojima couldn't look at textbook to write. Besides, he didn't leave the room after he came, and all children seemed equally shocked when they first came in. None helped out when Kojima tried to erase the writing though, but since Izumi didn't do it to, perhaps they all have the same thought as him. And so, the conclusion was…

The victims did it by themselves, although they'd probably tell everyone 'I've been bullied, so the writings don't surprise me anymore'.

He looked to his back and found the two hugging each other. The others were like him, a bit confused on how to approach them. What was on the girls' mind? Did they hate them? Should I apologize? When they kissed, right on the lips, let's just say they gave up thinking and decided to just leave the happy couple alone.

Izumi's face turned red from embarrassment. That's the first time he saw girls kissing each other. They're sisters, and it's usual for sisters to kiss each other, he tried to tell himself that, but what came up on his mind when he thought that was a toddler kissing a newborn.

'…  _Should I… talk to them?'_

They looked so happy, he felt bad coming between them. Although he wanted to know, it's just a little curiosity. There's also a chance of them setting him up to shut his mouth if they know he knew that they were the one who wrote on the board, and Izumi wasn't sure he could deal with it.

He had enough on his hands, and no pun intended. He laughed a bit as he grip on his bandaged hand.

"Be quiet, everyone. Class has started."

When he realized it, his teacher had already stood in front of the class, wiping the board with cloth Izumi realized had been drenched in alcohol. He leaned back to his chair and sighed.

No conversation, it was.

* * *

"… Iza-nii! Look, Kuru-nee! Iza-nii is waiting for us at the gate!"

"No way. (You can't be serious.)"

Mairu pressed her tiny hands to the window and screamed in delight. The bell had ringed and it was time for them to go home. Leaning to the gate was a boy taller than the rest of the children who was walking home.

"Awesomeness! He must be here to check up on us! Hurry up, Kuru-nee! We must not keep him waiting!"

Kururi nodded as she stuffed her books on her red bag. She also put some of Mairu's, doing that just to get down faster. When she saw Mairu done with her things, she grabbed her hand and ran out.

"Wonder… (Why is Onii-sama here?)"

"I don't know, I don't care! Iza-nii's here, Kuru-nee! That means our plan is working right? I'm so happy right now I don't know what to think anymore."

Kururi laughed. She felt the same thing as well.

When they got to the gate, Izaya was on the phone. The twins stood patiently by his side, not daring to disturb his seemingly important conversation. Last time they accidentally interrupt his phone call, he threw his knife at them.

Said knife though, missed them by a breath of hair, and ended up planted on the door behind the two. Let's just say that even though they didn't get hurt, and they were sure that Izaya didn't really aim at them, the twins decided that it's best not to wake the sleeping demon.

"Yes, I'm in their school now. As you can see from the picture I just sent you, it's still pretty much standing. What did I tell you? Basic psychology. No harm done."

" Hm? Well, it's because there'll be no teacher for the next hours, so why bother staying at school? Though I'd appreciate it if you tell anyone who ask that I'm in library. Haha, I have my sources. But that is confidential. I think there'll be no roll-call…"

"Club work? What in the world are you saying? We finished club work earlier... Yes, yes, you did all of the work. Fine, I'll do yours tomorrow. Text me when there's something important. I'll deal with it later."

He pressed the red button and stuffed the phone to his pocket in one fluid motion before turning to his sisters. They were standing like a statue, so unlike their 'new' self. One second later though, Izaya grinned at them before asking, "How was it?"

"Iza-nii, may I kiss you now?"

"I believe in cooties, so no. Based on your absurd request, though… It went well? Good job."

Izaya patted their heads as he said that. Kururi wondered as she felt her brother's warm hand somehow making her feel gooey inside, how many times had Izaya pat her since she changed? It's not yet two weeks, and she realized that he did it more often.

' _It's… not enough…'_

The older twin caught his hand, and pressed it to her lips.

"… clean (I have no cooties)"

This awkward motion resulted in Izaya raising both his hands in surprise, much like what people do when surrendering. His eyes were wide.

Next second, they had already attached to his hip, literally. The twins held onto his shirt like lifeline, Mairu on his left while Kururi on his right. Mairu glared at her sister, for the first time in a long time showing a sign of rivalry between them.

The older of the two stuck out her tongue at Mairu before giggling like crazy.

"… And here I thought you're dangerous, Mairu. I overestimated you."

"Kuru-nee has always been the hornier. But Kuru-nee, you cheater! I want to kiss Iza-nii too! Ah, just you wait till we get home! I'll make you regret it!"

"Excite (Looking forward to it.)"

"Goodness... Stop fighting in the middle of the street and let's just go home, okay?"

Izaya started walking despite the difficulties. Thankfully when he lowered his hands, the girls let go of his shirt and latched onto his hands instead, so it became a tad bit easier for him. All in all, the three siblings looked pretty silly.

Even so, they seemed like they're enjoying themselves.

"Speaking of which, Iza-nii, what happened? You actually picked us up! I thought we come home earlier than you."

"There's no class after lunch, and I got bored. Besides, I'm curious of how it turns out. Ah, I wonder if that idiot of a girl will continue bullying you two."

"Forbid… (She's suspended for two weeks) doubt… (so I don't think she'll do it again)."

"Hm… Is that so… Two weeks for first try… Not bad, not bad at all. I had planned on punishing her myself, but I guess it's enough."

"Plan? (What would you do if you're us, Onii-sama?)"

"Hmm… I guess I'll keep it old school. Putting thumbtacks on her chair and shoes, scribble on her desk… basically terrorize her before doing the weak act. Though, if you failed in making her suffer I'd just do that in her house. Honestly, I think you two are too kind."

"You weren't kidding, huh, Iza-nii? You really are bad! Awesome! Iza-nii is willing to do it for us? Ah, Iza-nii, I can't ask for more! I'll love you forever! Tell me more about what we should have done!"

And so, despite the strange conversation, the three walked back home with smile on each of their faces, just like any other happy family.

 


	5. Chapter 5

It was another day, but unlike usual, the twins did not read porn on Izaya's bed. They did their homework. Mairu was constantly bothered with simple math, screaming something along the line of 'How the hell am I supposed to count this?' once every few minutes, while Kururi did her work in complete silence. Izaya sat on the swivel chair, fixing his notes because of boredom, before he stopped as a realization hit him.

"... Hm."

Izaya thought of it suddenly. It was a random thought that appeared out of nowhere exactly an hour after he found his sisters did their homework on his room. He spun around and tilted his head in slight confusion.

"It's weird seeing you not reading porn."

"Late... (the homework is due tomorrow) shame... (so we can't read porn until we're done)."

"I'm so sad I could cry, Iza-nii. This homework is a pain! Seriously! I can't count it with my fingers! Why is math necessary?"

Izaya threw a black square machine at Mairu, who caught it like professional catcher. Her frown turned into a wide grin when she realized that it was one of the greatest discovery of mankind, calculator. Kururi averted her attention to Izaya, rising an eyebrow as she said, "Allowed? (I thought the teacher said we have to count it ourselves.)"

"What the teacher doesn't know won't kill her. Besides technically you count it yourself. You're the one who press the button, after all."

"Genius! Thanks, Iza-nii!"

And then they became engrossed once more in their homework. The room engulfed in silence, except for the echoing sound of buttons being pressed and clock.

Izaya leaned back on his swivel chair, suddenly taking interest on the ceiling. He wondered why he never questioned it before. Perhaps it's because their changes itself were so nerve wrecking, his mind unconsciously ignored the little problem.

From where did the girls learn about porn?

Izaya was interested in humanity because they're unique in terms of personality. He loved seeing them interacted with each other, making strong connection that's fragile at the same time. Breaking those bonds was fun, and he couldn't get tired of it.

That being said, he had zero interest on human's body. Izaya loved everyone, old and young, fat and skinny, male and female, healthy and sick, perfect and deformed. His love was in a sense the purest kind, with no expectations and discrimination.

So why did he had stash of porn under his bed? To answer that we must return to the past.

One day not too long ago, he heard that teenage boys like to read porn. He decided to make reading porn his hobby too, just for the heck of it. He bought quite a lot that day, but he got tired of it after few minutes, the cover not yet opened when he decided that it's too boring. Izaya stashed those books under his bed, ironically enough, because his room lacked space.

He never showed the girls those books, nor had the thought of showing them porn magazines ever occurred on his mind. Not because he saw them as his sisters and thinking that showing them porn would be embarrassing, but because before they changed he never really sees them. They were invisible in his eyes, unimportant beings not worth observing.

His parents were rarely home, so it's very unlikely that the girls accidentally caught them during one of their private sessions. They wouldn't teach the girls porn too, if they could help it. The twins were not in the age when sex education was necessary after all.

So, their addiction towards porn couldn't be from school too, because there's no sex ed yet and their friends shouldn't have known about porn.

… from where then?

"It's done!"

"Glad (Finally)"

Izaya's train of thoughts was broken by Mairu's cry of victory over her homework. Kururi smiled, she had also finished her homework although she didn't use calculator. Izaya pushed himself forward, hugging his knees as he thought what he should do next to find the one detail that's started to bother him like pebble in his shoes. The girls provide more mystery that he thought they would.

Hard to believe that the tingling feeling that he's feeling was because of porn.

"Oh, for the love of all humans, do you have to do that here?"

For some odd reason, the two kissed each other on the mouth. Mairu pushed her sister, pinning her down as she licked her lips in delight.

"Perv (You dirty girl!)"

Despite her cry, Kururi was smiling. Mairu's leaned forward, and licked Kururi's neck. She shivered, clearly enjoying the treatment. Looking at that, Izaya just shook his head. He wasn't interested in their sessions.

That's why he pulled Mairu away from Kururi.

"Guaaa... Nii-chan, let me down!"

"Didn't you say you want to read porn? Stick to it. You're ten years too early to dive into each other."

Really... what made them to be so into porn? He put Mairu down next to her sister, sighing as he did so.

"Explain (Why can't we do it?)"

"Because you'll get my sheet dirty. Do it in your own bed if you want, away from my sight, you dirty girls."

"But, Iza-nii... We're being good here! You're a boy, and yet you don't read porn. You need porn to be normal! That's why we're putting this show for you, our beloved abnormal brother!"

"Yeah (What she said.)"

"That's some twisted logic you have there. Sadly, I'm not interested."

The two pouted, clearly because what he said. Once again, Izaya sighed, and then the room was engulfed once more in silence.

It ticked him off.

It's just a simple thing, but Izaya didn't like the questions that popped on his head one by one. All because of the little girls who faked their abnormalcy. Hard to believe that just few days before, he couldn't even care about them.

"What makes me can't stop thinking of them now?"

"... Simple. Isn't it because you love them?"

The next day at school, Shinra said that to him as respond to his question. Izaya could only blink in surprise when he heard that. He laughed dryly after a moment of silent as he spun around, sprayer to water the plants on his hand.

"I often forget the fact that I even have sisters, Shinra. I don't have some silly attachment to those two. Yes, I love them, but it's the same with what I feel towards strangers."

"Yeah, says someone whose head has been filled with nothing but them for the past few days. Just look at Nakura's face. He seemed less stressed now that you're more focused to your sisters."

"I'm giving him leisure time to study for Raijin entrance exam. I'll give him hell later, don't worry."

"Hm... Is that so..."

Shinra had no idea why in the world would Nakura wanted to stay in Raijin for high school, but he didn't press further. Perhaps the correct question would be how could Izaya convince him to stay?

The bespectacled boy shrugged, as he didn't really care about it. He stabbed his fried egg and played with it, admittedly getting a bit bored with the conversation. For some odd reason, he's been Izaya's hole in a tree for a while now. That being said, Izaya never expected any respond from him. Or rather, he'd dismissed any of his words. That's why mostly Shinra chose to stay quiet and let the boy helped himself.

"I'm just curious about their interest. Yes, once I figure it out, I'll stop thinking about them."

More than trying to convince Shinra, Izaya sounded more as if he was convincing himself. Shinra was a bit confused, what's so bad about admitting love towards his own family? He talked about his sisters as if they're rare animals on the brink of extinction.

What caused their extinction? People wanted to learn that sorts of things, but then they move on. Some who loves animals would probably try to fix it, but their numbers are not many. Izaya belonged in the first category, Shinra thought as he swallowed his food.

On the laboratory table, Izaya's notes were stacked up nicely. Shinra took a book, didn't bother asking for Izaya's permission. It was about his sisters, the note with admittedly less details and more speculation.

_'Day 15, their interest in porn is getting out of hand. Possible cause, my zero interest in porn.'_

"Hey, Izaya. Don't you already know the cause of their interest here?"

"That's secondary cause. I want to know where they learned it from in the first place."

Wasn't it obvious?

The two wanted to become the person Izaya could love, and so they'd most probably searched his everything for reference. It's just happen when they searched, they found out about porn and began questioning their sexuality.

Or at least acted it out. Their young mind couldn't possibly register the idea of sex yet. Why couldn't Izaya thought of this?

"Uh huh, okay. So what are you going to do once you find it?"

Izaya sat in front of Shinra, his eyes wide as if he couldn't believe his ears. Shinra's question was obvious, of course. The answer should have been obvious too. It's Izaya. Shinra even regretted asking a bit.

He'd obviously...

"Obviously, I'll destroy that source. What else?"

Admittedly that's not what he thought he'd do. Shinra eyed him curiously, eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Oh come on, Shinra. I really need to do that before my parents kill me for ruining their mind. You know what they did when I 'stabbed' you? I'll seriously bleach their mind. I'll turn them into nuns! Interesting to see, surely, yes? And my parents won't disturb my joy."

Now Shinra became more confused than ever. He still spoke of them as experimental subject, but what he said...

Perhaps it's because he lived with a woman who couldn't say a word, and so finding things that's left unsaid has become something that Shinra could do without thinking. Beneath Izaya's mad scientist talk, he could hear a bit of something usually said by a concerned brother.

_'Porn is not good for them!'_

Shinra definitely could hear him said that, of course after filtered from the evil material.

Despite his evil mind, perhaps actually Izaya wasn't that bad at all.


	6. Chapter 6

"Alright, kids. Make a group of two and draw the face of the person in front of you. Don't deliberately draw it bad, okay? Respect your friend."

It was another day at school. Winter break would start the next day, and coincidentally the teacher had finished teaching what needs to be taught, so he just improvised and tried to create a fun activities. It's been like that for few days.

Mairu instinctively took her sister's hand, grinning obnoxiously as she did so. Kururi just nodded. A conversation done without a single words out from their mouths.

Looking at them, Izumi couldn't help but to feel a bit envious.

Despite no one daring to come close to them, they're not alone. Because Kojima was suspended, the number of children had become uneven, and it just happen that the unlucky one who didn't get a partner was him.

_'Well... I'll just draw the teacher...'_

It's unfortunate, but it's not as if the others were avoiding him. A boy offered to be his partner earlier, but Izumi felt bad for the fidgeting little girl who clearly wanted some private time. He started drawing alone, humming a random song from random anime as he did so.

He knew. He was neither hated nor loved in that class. He's just a neutral entity.

"Hey, Izumi-kun. Where's your partner?"

Izumi blinked in surprise. Mairu had already sat in front of him. The screeching sound attracted his attention before he could answer however, and when he turned to the source of the sound his eyes found Kururi dragging her chair. She placed the chair next to Mairu's and after few seconds she nodded in approval.

"... True (You're right, his place is warmer.)"

Izumi's seat was indeed closer to the warmer than the twins'. Moreover, their seats were close to the window, and so theirs could easily be the coldest in the whole class. Looking at them, the teacher didn't seem to mind, probably because of that reason as well.

"So, then, Izumi-kun. Where's your partner?"

Mairu asked him once more. Even so, her voice was not tinted with curiosity. She already knew the answer of her own question. Izumi realized this, and sigh.

"I'm drawing the teacher."

Mairu leaned forward, a wide grin appeared on her face. "Eh? Why is that?"

"Because of your doing, the number of student in this class has become uneven, and now I have no partner."

"God, that's so sad!"

Mairu cackled like a demon. Thankfully, Kururi smacked her before Izumi could. Not that he wanted to, but he's admittedly a bit annoyed by her laughter. Apparently it's not too hard though, because Mairu didn't cry. She just held her head like hiding two newly grown Oni horns.

"Sorry (She's not usually like this)"

"No, not at all. Rather, thanks for the hit."

He looked deep into Kururi's eyes, contemplating what to say to her. Actually, he wanted to ask Mairu, but somehow he got the impression that Mairu was like a rabid dog and Kururi was the one who held the leash.

_'Because of your doing...'_

He had surely said that. Even so, none of the girls denied that.

"... Is it okay though to tell me?"

Kururi nodded once more. She then took out her drawing pad and started drawing. As expected, she really wouldn't talk much. Mairu looked up, hands still on her head, and answered on Kururi's stead.

"Nee-chan was grateful. So, that's her gratitude. I'm sure you, just like anybody else in this class, are curious about who wrote in the board few days ago. Though it seems you already figured things out by yourself."

" _ **You're right, it was I who wrote it."**_

Mairu declared it the same way as declaring that she had a twin sister, an obvious fact that she couldn't help but to feel proud of. At least she whispered those words, because the boy behind her didn't react at all. Perhaps he's too focused on his drawings.

"How was it? It's the first time I copy someone's handwriting. That girl was an idiot, so it's surprisingly harder. But I nailed it, didn't I?"

Izumi mumbled 'idiot' under his breath, and continued drawing.

"I don't think you have to show gratitude in any kind to me, though. I didn't do anything after all."

"You told the teacher on her, and didn't tell about your suspicion of us. That deserved gratitude, you know? I'm not sure I'll do the same if you're in our shoes after all. Rather, I'm not sure I'll care about you. Right, Kuru-nee?"

Kururi smacked Mairu once more in respond. Whether that means 'it's true but you shouldn't tell him that' or 'it's not true', Izumi had no idea. There's no change in Kururi's expression. Her brownish eyes was still focused on her drawings, hidden under her bangs, and...

When Izumi realized it, the picture on his drawing pad was no longer that of a man. Sure, with his limited skill it didn't even look like human, but Izumi still realized that the model had changed. The short hair had become a bit longer, and he even drew pink blushes on the cheeks.

"Izumi-kun? Okay? (You don't look so good.)"

He flinched and dropped his drawing pad in surprise. Kururi eyed him worryingly before she scooted down to take Izumi's drawing pad, because Izumi looked like he's about to throw up. He covered his mouth with his hand and looked away.

"I'm fine... I think."

"Want us to take you to infirmary? You're red. Are you sick? Don't tell me Kuru-nee's beauty charmed you and you're now aroused?"

It was 45 degrees out there, but Izumi's sweating bullets. His face was as red as tomato, and as if it was possible, hearing Mairu's bold remark made him even redder. He coughed, as if choked on mere air. Never on his young mind the thought of hearing such vulgar language from a girl his age appeared.

"... Hee... Bull's eye, huh?"

_'She's sharp...'_

Mairu smirked at him, and it made him uncomfortable.

Thankfully, Kururi returned to her seat after that, and Izumi stiffened. She handed the drawing pad to Izumi, who reached out to get it. Just as she did so, she said, "Izumi-kun, this picture looks a bit different with teacher. I wonder why..."

"Really? Let me see!"

Before Izumi could take it from Kururi's hand, Mairu snatched it away.

_'Crap...'_

Surely she could see who's the model from just one glance. He pressed his palm to his face to hide his red face.

"... It's just his crappy skill, I think."

"Rude (Mind what you say)."

Surprisingly, Mairu didn't say anything about the embarrassing fact that he's a bit attracted to Kururi. Izumi thanked all the Gods up there for making that possible, because he thought at first that she'd use the vulgar language she learned from God-knows-where to emphasize that and make him sound like a pervert.

Instead, she just giggled. Not a cackle befitting of a witch like before, but a giggle Izumi could relate to that of a princess.

"Can't help it. Izumi-kun, as gratitude from me, this Mairu-sama will fix your drawings. You should be happy! Oh, better yet! How about we switch drawings? Kuru-nee will continue mine, and you'll continue Kuru-nee's. Good idea right?"

Mairu didn't wait for the two's approval. She just took Kururi's drawing, eyed it for a millisecond before shoving it to Izumi with her trademark grin plastered on her pretty face. Bewildered, Izumi couldn't even reply.

"Aren't you happy, Izumi-kun? Come on, tell me what you're feeling now."

For that too, Izumi had no idea what to say. He looked up from the drawings, to the still smiling girl and her expressionless sister.

"Silent (Please don't say anything.)"

Izumi couldn't do anything but nod. The drawing he had just been handed to was, without a doubt, a picture of himself. There was no one else in the classroom who wore bandages over his arms and head. No wonder Mairu wanted to hear his comment so bad.

"Aw! Kuru-nee, you kill-joy! Well, whatever. Tomorrow's the start of holiday, right? What are you planning, Izumi-kun? We will spend it at home completing our game, just so you know. If you want you can join us!"

"No."

He and Kururi said at the same time. Another minute with Mairu wouldn't be good for Izumi's heart, but apparently Kururi rejected the idea with different thought in mind. The objections made Mairu disappointed, as she puffed her cheeks and narrowed her eyebrows.

"Why? That's a good idea right? Christmas is meant to be with spent with friends anyway."

Friend?

Since when did he become friends with the twins? Even though he thought that, the girls seemed to have thought of it as simple fact.

"Onii-sama... (I want it just with our brother)"

It's how Christmas usually spent in western countries, with families, unlike in Japan. Mairu clapped her hands after hearing that though. Her mouth formed a plump O, her signature look when getting revelation. A second later, that silly face turned serious and she turned to Izumi.

"Kuru-nee's right. You can't come after all."

"I never said I want to. Why did you ask me anyway?"

The girl in front of her inhaled, and...

"Our parents are away for this year's Christmas, so there may be no presents for us, which I don't really mind, but also none for our admittedly a bit creepy brother. I thought that you, being a creepy kid yourself, can help us choose present for him. But that would be unfair for you. So I thought that you could join us in our conquest to defeat the Rope Shrine Maiden in exchange because I'm sure you'd hate to be at home."

Mairu answered him in one breath. She spoke so fast it's almost impossible to hear.

"Ignoring my curiosity on how you know that last part... Can I get mad at you for calling me creepy?"

And at that, Mairu just laughed. Kururi however, shook her head and said, "Good (But we like that about you)."

Izumi couldn't help but to sigh and look away, trying to hide his once again reddening cheeks. He tried to focus on the drawing, just like Kururi did, but couldn't really make his hand change anything made by her. So, he just pressed his pencil to the paper and thought about what Mairu just said.

They knew he had problem at home.

_'How do they know? Well, they probably realize that my wounds are not from our classmates since I go along pretty well with them... But still...'_

Despite their childish personality, the twins were perhaps even more mature than anyone. Even if they looked spontaneous and whimsical, actually they're very calculating. Izumi himself realized that he's at least maturer than the rest of the first graders, but to think that there were the same type of people in his class...

Perhaps brothers had that effect on their younger siblings? The more troublesome the better?

Even so... Present for their brother?

Despite the similarities between their circumstances, they ended up the exact opposite of him.

When the bell rang, the teacher just told them the usual warnings of spending the holiday wisely, and left in a hurry. The students then all started comparing their holiday plans as they packed. The twins too, rose from their seats to fetch their already packed bags, ready to go home.

"Just get him a better version of his favorite thing."

"Huh?"

Apparently they hadn't expected him to really give them idea on what to give. They stopped on their tracks, and turned to the still sitting boy.

"For your brother. That's what I'd do if I can't think of any original present."

The twins looked at each other before flashing their smiles at Izumi.

"Thanks (It's a good idea)"

"No problem. Ah, your picture..."

"Ah, the teacher doesn't look like he'll grade it, so you can take it. Do what you want with it. You can throw it away if you want. I'll throw away yours anyway, haha! Well then, see you next year, Izumi!"

True to her words, Mairu really did put the drawing she fixed on the trash can before ran out the class to chase after her sister.

The boy took a deep breath and sighed. He had a feeling that they would stick to him from then on. Whether it's a good thing or not, he did not know.

He took his bag and went away, but somehow his feet wouldn't move when his eyes found the drawing Mairu just threw away on the trash can. It was...

_'huh?'_

It was another picture he hadn't seen before. It was not what he had first drawn at all. It was Mairu's drawing of Kururi. Instinctively he took it from the trash can, and there was an arrow drawn on the top corner. He flipped the paper according to the direction of the arrow, and found Mairu's handwriting.

_'I will not let you have Kuru-nee, but this should be good as Christmas present.'_

It was as if she had known firsthand on what he'd do. Izumi laughed a bit before putting it carefully in his bag, along with Kururi's drawings of him, before walking away with light steps.

Little did he know that those pictures he got that day would change his life soon.


	7. Chapter 7

"Now that I think about it, it's Christmas Eve tonight..."

"Yep. And this is our last day of school."

"Hm..."

Their talk about the twins ended just like that. Izaya clearly didn't like to press further into the matter of 'love', and Shinra was not that interested in that topic in the first place, so they moved on to finish their club work. Though, Izaya did all the work that day, due to the promise he made before.

Since it was the last day of school, most students went home immediately to prepare for whatever they were planning for holiday. Only some remain to finish up their club work, though Izaya was sure that he and Shinra were the last third year students to stay in school. Third years must prepare for admittance test after all. Izaya stayed because Shinra would bug him all year if he left early, and to tell the truth he didn't think much of the test. He was one of the best in his year.

_'Shinra's not too bothered too... Well, he only has his mind on that love of his, and her only wish up until now is for him to have friends. Club is more important to him right now, huh?'_

"Ah! I forgot!"

Shinra stood up suddenly, making a loud noise as he banged his hands to the table. The sound made Izaya flinched and spilled water all over the floor. Before he could turn around and question Shinra however, the bespectacled boy ran towards him and shook him with frightened face.

"Izaya! I promised my love a Christmas party attended by my friends! I forgot! Shizuo-kun broke his tibia, radial, and cracked his frontal skull so he couldn't come! You must attend in his place! I don't have any other replacements!"

He couldn't say no. No, actually he couldn't say anything at all with Shinra's hand positioned perfectly on his neck, which made Izaya wondering if he'd strangle him, treat him, and strangle him again if he happened to be able to speak and say 'no'.

If Izaya had his knife, he'd took it out and pointed it at the bespectacled boy, because he's sure Shinra could kill him with just a little push. The knowledge scared him a bit.

Looking at his pale face getting paler from the lack of air (as if you could breath when your neck was being held albeit not too tightly and your body was being shook back and forth), Shinra let him go, with an 'oops'.

"Sorry..."

"-cough- Will you... let me say no?"

"That'd be bad for my relationship, so of course not."

He'd kill Izaya if he dared to. Izaya was sure of it. If it's Shinra, he'd hurt him badly and take a picture of him bleeding to death, before treating him with his extensive medical knowledge just so he could say 'My friends are all sick and can't attend... Let's spend it just the two of us, Celty! What do you mean I hurt them? I'm not that bad of a kid!' to Celty. And so he just pushed him away and sighed.

Being his companion for three years already, Shinra understood that he had resigned, and so he smiled widely before running to grab his bag and threw Izaya his.

"Just let me go home after she sees me, okay?"

"Understood!"

It's going to be a long day...

* * *

Izumi's advice was simple. Buy something he liked, but better than what he already have. It was a normal thing to do when choosing present for a normal human being. Sadly, Orihara Izaya was not someone normal.

In front of the department store, looking at the displayed items, the twins couldn't help but to let out a deep sigh. It was only when they arrive at the store that they realized that their brother's favorite plaything was humanity, and it's not exactly something you could buy in department store.

World domination would be much easier to obtain if that was the case.

"... human observation?"

"Good idea."

His hobby, which was equally weird, however was a tad bit easier to use as crutch in finding the perfect present. Would camera be perfect? Izaya didn't have one. Even so, he's not that kind of observant who took pleasure in looking at unmoving picture. And that's too expensive as well. That made video camera also off the list. How about binocular? Ah, the one they could afford was not better than Izaya's.

After four hours looking, they almost gave up.

"This isn't working... That idiot, Izumi! How dare he gave us useless advice! I'll seriously make him suffer next time I see him! "

"Wait, Mairu... look, there!"

Surprisingly... they found it. The perfect present.

It was sold in a small military shop, possibly aimed at collectors because most of the things were placed inside glass box. The shop sold everything from uniform to guns. Even so, it was empty, and out of desperation the owner didn't even think twice before giving the twins what they want with low price. Hell, he was so desperate for any sales made, he even wrapped the said item for them. With ribbons and everything.

"... hesitant (is it really okay?)"

"Yes. Wait a minute while I wrap this nicely okay? For your brother right? I'm sorry I can't give you something more expensive, but this should make him happy. Boys like things like this."

"Not about that, Ossan! Kuru-nee meant is it really okay for us to have us this! I mean, I read in encyclopedia once that this thing is forbidden in most part of the world!"

"Not this size, it isn't. Don't worry and trust Ossan."

It was barely legal, and that made them worried. Even so, without a doubt, it's perfect. And so, they went home feeling a bit conflicted about it.

When they got home, surprisingly Izaya wasn't there. They had thought that he'd be home immediately after school and spend the rest of the day reading his textbooks, but apparently they were mistaken.

It wasn't the first time they found the house empty, but still the silence managed to make their chest hurt.

After all, there was a chance that... Izaya decided to spend Christmas with his 'friends' like normal person.

Although he claimed he wasn't interested in such boring things, as he claimed that going once was enough, parties were the perfect event to build up trust from his beloved humans. It wouldn't be surprising if he was invited in a party, since he's quite famous at school.

Looking at the clock hung above the TV screen, Kururi wondered if her thought was spot on. It's too late, Izaya had never been out until that hour even on the day he's collecting data.

"... Can't be helped," Kururi said with a sigh as she plopped into the sofa. "Let's just play while we wait."

* * *

Imagine a place of black and white, with minimalistic interior design, suddenly being flooded with color. The turn out could only be described with one word, weird. That's exactly what Izaya felt after seeing Shinra's apartment after being decorated.

"It's perfect!"

Looking at Shinra grinning triumphantly after completely making a mess, Izaya wondered if he needed his eyes checked once more. Even though he had admittedly solid design, scolding Izaya every now and then for putting things few centimeters off from his vision which he had only in his head, the result was like the apartment was being decorated by two kindergardeners as opposed to two middle schoolers.

"... Your sense of beauty is really unique to say the least."

"Thank you! I hope Celty will be glad with this!"

"Didn't mean of it as compliment though."

Shinra just laughed when he heard that, and before he could say anything in respond, the sound of horse could strangely be heard. His smile widened in anticipation as the door being opened slowly.

"Ah, Celty! Welcome home! Merry Christmas!"

Celty, the third known person in Shinra's family beside his father. She's the cause of his madness and abnormality, and from how Shinra usually described her, Izaya had expected her to be anything but normal too.

Even so, he didn't expect her to be the Black Rider, the urban legend that's started to appear ten years ago. Izaya's eyes widened in surprise after he saw her, the black biker suit she wore accentuate her curves, something Izaya normally could not see. He always thought that Black Rider was a he, but the figure standing by the door could only belong to a female.

_'… Black Rider... Shinra...'_

Shinra had ran towards her, his arms wide as he attempted to hug her. Even so, she merely pushed him away.

Somehow, it all made sense.

The Black Rider, the supposedly Headless Rider!

_'The living corpse Shinra mentioned... it's her? Losing upper part of the body, well, she doesn't seem to be that way... But, her head... Why is she wearing helmet indoor? Don't tell me, don't tell me, don't tell me...'_

"Izaya, this is my wife to- OUCH! Celty, my spleen! OUCH! Ce- celty..."

She took out her cellphone and typed. Apparently that's her way of communicating.

[You should have told me about him.]

"But you're the one who wants me to bring friends home! I promised you to bring Shizuo-kun, but he broke his bones, so I bring Orihara-kun instead. See? I'm a good boy right? Can we get married no- OUCH!"

Shinra fell down, holding his abdomen. Even though he's clearly in pain, he looked happy for some odd reason. Celty looked as if she was sighing, her hands on her hips, before turning to Izaya. Looking at his reflection on her helmet, he realized that he's grinning like a boy who got new toy from Santa.

Needless to say, it was a bit creepy. Imagine a boy, knowing full well that Santa doesn't exist getting something he didn't like at all from his loved ones, and so he smiled at them despite his disappointment. Izaya's smile was exactly like that.

"... Nice to meet you, Black Rider."

She nodded in acknowledgment after few seconds, clearly taken aback by his grin.

[Orihara-kun, is it? Thanks for always taking care of Shinra.]

"Heh..."

Somehow, seeing her ticked him off.

Everything felt like a blur after that. When he realized it, he's already standing outside his house, his hand holding the handle. It must be because of the euphoria after meeting something that's not a human.

… No, it's not the reason.

Deep inside, he knew. The euphoria was from seeing what made Shinra different than any other human beings he knew. Shinra's the one who made him restless, not the possibly headless woman he liked.

For some reason his chest ached as the realization dawned upon him.

_'If I take everything he said back then as the truth, then she really is a monster... Liking something like that...'_

A monster, something that despicable. He had used that word to describe a woman who had done absolutely nothing to him. It's the first time he used the word monster to describe someone with unique trait. He admitted that she's interesting, and that he'd planned to dig deeper into her, just like what he'd do when he found interesting humans.

So, why couldn't he see her as normal human? He never had problem loving a deformed human before. Even so...

_'… She's headless. She can't be human, so that makes her a monster.'_

For the time being, he decided to leave it at that and entered the house...

"I'm ho-"

" _ **KYAAAAAAAAAA!"**_

Only to be welcomed with camera flashes, and two almost identical girls screaming for their live. Mind you, they weren't like paparazzi taking pictures of their idols at all, because their eyes weren't even open. All in all they looked as if they had seen a ghost. Thankfully, they calmed down after few seconds, mostly because they had to catch their breath.

"... What are you girls doing? And is that my camera?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Mairu's eyes opened suddenly, while Kururi hesitated a bit before letting out a sigh of relief.

"O... Iza-nii? Geez! You scared the hell out of us!"

"Suspicious... ethereal (You stood there unmoving so long I thought you're a ghost.)"

"That should be my line, you know? And here I thought you'd be expecting Santa..."

Izaya walked passed them with a wry smile. He'd usually tease them about their sudden fear of supernatural and not-existence interest in Santa, but he somehow wasn't in the mood. That was easily sensed by the twins.

"... Nii-chan? What's wrong?"

Izaya wondered how he looked like if even they could sense his anxiety. He plopped into the sofa and answered as he pat their heads.

"Nothing's wrong. Shinra's just being a pain as usual. "

"I... see. So you went to his party..."

"Not quite. I just decorated his place. Though the better term would be messing up his place..."

Despite his explanation, they looked dejected nonetheless. Well, they're not to blame. It was ten PM already. He knew he shouldn't leave his sisters alone for too long, because they're still so small and naïve and gullible and all, but still he couldn't refuse Shinra.

One of his reason was because he's sure Shinra would kill him if he refused, but the other was because he's been wanting to see Shinra's place. He wanted to see what made him so different than the rest of mankind.

He didn't regret going one bit, even though the woman's existence sickened him.

Blinding light came from the camera in Mairu's hand, making him even forget what he's thinking. She's grinning from ear to ear as she took more and more pictures.

"What's with the camera, again?"

"It's an exorcising device! I bet it can also get the devil out of your system, so let me take lots of pictures of you, Iza-nii. Who knows, you might get a present from Santa tonight! The film is infinite and low-grade, so let me take a million more pictures!"

"Game (The story we played earlier is like that)"

There was no film inside the camera despite Mairu's claim. Izaya knew that. He's the owner after all.

"... You're mad because there's no party here, aren't you?"

"Nope! We're mad because you left us on our own until this late, didn't say anything about you going to someone's place, not preparing our dinner beforehand, and scaring the hell out of us earlier. The last isn't exactly your fault though, and we've bought bentou earlier. You know, Iza-nii, you could be arrested for negligence for this!"

"Revenge (we'll bug you all night as punishment)"

"Let me guess... The game you two played was so scary you're afraid to do things on your own."

They nodded frantically despite not looking frightened at all.

"Iza-nii can protect us from ghosts and perverted old pedophile, can you? Just take its picture if you sees one! It should hurt them badly. "

"Wow, you're the first six year old I know who calls Santa perverted old pedophile and wanting him away. What's up with that? Don't you want presents?"

"Yeah, but what would he do to us after he drop by the presents? He's a pedophile, Iza-nii. You can't underestimate a pedophile!"

"True (You can't never be too careful)"

Izaya wanted to laugh from the irony. Here, his sisters were warning him about the danger of expecting a pedophile to drop by, while on the other side of the city a certain young boy was trying seduce a monster. Looking at his contorted face, the twins raised their eyebrows before sitting next to him.

If only it could be that simple...

"Monsters can't be beaten with camera, you know? I've seen one, picture of a headless monster. The said monster is still alive and kicking, literally."

"Faceless (You have to aim at its face for it to work)"

Hearing that, he laughed.

How could these two have answers to everything? He knew that they probably mention the game they played as attempt to make him forget about Shinra, or something that made him seem so tired before, but sadly it only reminded him further.

"So, let's just hope that Headless Rider won't come tonight, huh?"

"If he comes then it's no problem! Iza-nii can beat him. He's solid right? Then just stab him! It's not like he's human being. You'd have no problem doing it right? And on the bright side, no one can sue you for it!"

Mairu said it as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. As she fished her pocket, Kururi too, nodded.

"Although, your knife... was taken away, right? We haven't seen you holding it for a while. Well, if it's Iza-nii, I wouldn't put it pass you to threatened someone with it. Not Shinra-san, perhaps... You're too calculative to attack someone you've attack once before. Ah, what a poor soul!"

"Justice? (But perhaps he deserves it?)"

"You sound just like a stalker. Give me the camera. I'll cleanse your soul."

"I don't want to hear that from a stalker like you, Iza-nii!"

They grinned and leaned to his arm. It's hard to tell if what they said was a wild guessing or if they really stalked Izaya. The older boy never felt as if he's being watched, though he was quite famous and it's not always in the good way. It's possible if they just happened to hear from people around them.

"Nii-chan, you do know that knives are dangerous, right? You always put it in your pocket, but it's really easy to notice, and it can hurt you. Well, we don't think you're that careless... Even so..."

"Merry Christmas, Onii-chan..."

She put a wrapped up box on Izaya's lap.

It's clearly a Christmas present, but when Izaya wasn't expecting to receive anything. Not even from his sisters. He raised an eyebrow before unwrapped the box.

The inside was... a small switchblade, just a bit over two inch long.

"... Where did you get this, Kuru-"

Izaya didn't finish his question. The twins were already asleep by his sides, their small hands clutching on to his uniform and wouldn't let go. Not so surprising, considering it already passed their bedtime. He averted his attention to the blade again. It fit perfectly on his palm, like it was really made just for him.

"Stab her, huh... You two are always unexpected... To think you'd be the one who plant crazy idea in my head...," he said with a chuckle as he leaned back and closed his eyes, drifting into a very deep sleep.

* * *

 


	8. Chapter 8

"You know, Celty... It's a bit regretful that white Christmas don't happen often in Tokyo. I don't think I've even seen it in my life. But no worries! For me Celty is more beautiful than snowflakes."

"Do you think Santa exist, Celty? Since you do exist, I can't exactly doubt him. Have you seen him, Celty? Do you think he'll come tonight? I've been trying to be a good boy, so I hope he'll come! I sent him a letter you know? Hehe, of course you know! I asked you to deliver it after all!"

She flinched.

Apparently she remembered getting asked for a simple delivery to the post office, but she's been so busy she forgot to do it.

"... You didn't deliver it, didn't you? Ah, what a shame! There goes my faint hope of getting present!"

The fairy hurriedly typed on her cellphone. [I'm sorry... What do you want? I'll get it in return.]

"You will? Really?"

[Yeah. It's my fault after all.]

"Oh, Celty, you're the best! Then... I want marriage certificate!"

The headless fairy named Celty Sturluson could only sit as her landlord's son rambled on as he prepare the Christmas feast. Since it was Christmas, she thought she would at least try not to inflict physical pain on the weird boy.

The key word was try.

'As I thought, it's really impossible...'

Celty really wish to knock some sense into the boy's head. He must have some screws loose in that head of his, because for ten years now he'd been telling that nonsense about loving her. Her of all people.

[No. Ask for something else.]

"Then... we sleep together tonight?"

[Rejected]

"Can I dissect you once more?"

[Shinra...]

"... Fine. Then Celty must turn off your cellphone."

After a moment of contemplating, she pressed the power button. Shinra's face brightened when he saw that, and he threw himself to hug her.

Only to be kicked down in response.

_'… he should stop doing these kinds of thing...'_

"But Celty! I can't help it! You know that this is the tenth Christmas we spend together! Special day! Thankfully, Shizuo-kun is incapable of coming, Izaya left early, my father is away and the yakuza hasn't called to give you any job! And they can't contact you now! It's a date, Celty! We need to celebrate this! Aaah, I have sudden craving for sekihan!"

Shinra said as he held his sore spot, a wide smile plastered on his face.

It was as if he could read her mind.

Celty was of course stunned for few seconds before taking her notebook and pen from one of the drawers there with her shadow.

[… You weren't the one who broke Shizuo's bones, right?]

"Of course not! Celty... I'm hurt... I'm not that bad of a child... his brother called to ask me stuffs about high school I picked. Apparently Shizuo-kun has issue with his choices. When I asked how he's doing, he said his bones were broken. Totally not my fault."

[Well, I'll have to take your word on that...]

"Forget about Shizuo-kun! Let's just eat. No, I don't care if you can't actually eat, Celty. Your company is enough. Merry Christmas!"

And with that, Shinra continued on rambling about his love to Celty as he ate, receiving a kick or punch every once in a while when he's being a bit too... weird. Neither of them remembered about the injured boy who was supposed to be invited to the simple party.

* * *

Why did Kasuka call Shinra? To know that we must go back to few days before.

"Don't look at me like that, Kasuka. You know I'm damn right."

"..."

"Annoying people keep on coming... I keep destroying things... Damn it, why can't they let me be? What have I done to to them anyway? It's better if I just move away and spare our parents the trouble. They have better use for the money anyway... "

"... Kaa-san and Tou-san aren't that poor, Nii-san. They can support us just fine until high school."

"That's not what I meant, Kasuka."

"..."

"Just, leave me alone, okay?"

Kasuka could do nothing but leave his room. Continuing would only worsen the wounds on the blond's body. The talk must had been serious, but it's hard to tell what Kasuka felt about his brother being stubborn about something so important.

He didn't even sigh.

As if wearing a mask, his face was void of emotion.

"..."

If normal person was to look at him, he'd think that Kasuka didn't think much about the conversation earlier. But, Heiwajima Kasuka was not normal. Due to certain circumstances, he had became a very strange human being, incapable of showing his emotion. Needless to say, he felt things the same way normal human would, but others wouldn't be able to tell.

To tell the truth, Heiwajima Kasuka was very troubled.

After all, his brother had decided, without consulting anyone first, that he'd not go to high school.

Heiwaima Shizuo, after experiencing admittedly bad school years, finally decided that he couldn't stand it anymore. Perhaps the lack of companion was one to blame for his rash decision. Like any normal person, his brother obviously needed someone he could communicate to without needing to worry about his herculean strength.

In grade school, he had Kishitani Shinra, who he always referred as 'bad acquaintance that stuck', and in middle school he had Tanaka Tom.

He's not that conceited to call people he didn't know much about (and in Shinra's case, he simply didn't want to know) his friends, but Kasuka could tell that he held those two in high regards. Even so, during his third year of middle school, Shizuo had no one he could call companion after Tanaka Tom graduated.

Since then, his hellish life just got worse.

Apparently, his seniors had provoked a lot of gang members from all around Tokyo, and many came to him simply because they wanted to test him out.

Most time he ended up in hospital, but not because he let them beat him. They pissed him off so bad, he couldn't help but to beat the hell out of them, using power he couldn't control.

What's broken was, ironically, Shizuo's own body.

It's surely stressful, and the fact that his grade was falling because of the time he had to spend in hospital only burdened him more. Kasuka couldn't really blame him for not being able to stand school.

Even so, Kasuka believed that going to high school was the best for Shizuo.

" _Can you please convince him?"_

His parents thought so too, despite Shizuo's belief. Though sometimes they scorned his bad temper, they never said anything about his strength. How could they? More than anything, it only hurt Shizuo, while the worst his victims ever got was concussion. Shizuo took their words lightly however, thinking that they kept him just so that their image wouldn't be ruined further more.

That's why his mother asked Kasuka to try, since he only listened to Kasuka out of his guilt for nearly killing him when they were children, even though it wasn't his fault.

Back then, Kasuka absentmindedly ate Shizuo's pudding.

Seeing that, Shizuo snapped, and he lifted the refrigerator. Kasuka knew he wanted to throw it at him, but the fear only made him frozen in spot. Even so, he couldn't show his fear. Despite the intense fear which made his heart pounding like crazy, his face looked as calm as it could be.

Even so, Shizuo somehow knew. Even if he didn't, surely he realized what he's going to do and it sickening him.

At that time, surely that's the first time he ever thought of himself as a monster.

In the end, the one who seemed frightened was Shizuo himself. Kasuka couldn't forget that split of second when he looked as if he had seen a ghost, backed away only to tripped over the wires and fell down underneath the heavy appliances.

Heiwajima Shizuo was... a kind person.

"..."

It's once said that you should beware of a kind person's wrath, as it's scarier than anything else. It's common knowledge, that's why Kasuka couldn't fathom why people would want to provoke his brother.

He's just a kind person, after all. Easily angered, but still kind nevertheless.

_'Why can't they let me be? What have I done to them anyway!'_

Shizuo's question kept on repeating on his head.

"... Answer... Right, I should come up with an answer..."

If he could tell him the answers, perhaps things could get better for Shizuo. He folded his arms and closed his eyes, starting to think.

In the end, he decided to call Kishitani Shinra and Tanaka Tom to ask for their advice. Unfortunately, the Caucasian male was out of town most likely due to the holiday, so Kasuka could only contact Shinra.

"Yes, Kishitani speaking."

"... Shinra-san? This is Kasuka."

"Oh! Kasuka-kun, long time no see! What's up? Are you hurt and in need of medical attention?"

"No. I'm fine. I just want to ask about high school you're going to. You are going to high school right?"

From distant memory, Kasuka wouldn't be surprised if Shinra said he won't go to high school. He's pretty open with his life since back then, and even Kasuka knew Shinra's planning to follow his father's footsteps as underground doctor.

"I don't see why it's necessary, but my love told me I have to go, so I got to go. I'm studying in a private school that has high school division, so I'm planning to go there. Easier to enter, you know? Why do you ask?"

"... Aniki has doubts about his choices. Kishitani-san, the school... Is it Raijin High?"

"Yup, that's the one. Not too hard to get into, not too expensive, great facility... All in all it's a great school. Is Shizuo-kun applying for it too?"

Last month, for the same reasons, Shizuo did put Raijin as his first choice. Hearing that Shinra would most certainly be there made Kasuka felt a bit relieved.

"Yeah. He has some doubts now, but I'll convince him."

"I see. I've heard a lot of bad things about Shizuo-kun, so I do hope he gets into Raijin. It's private, so the students are mostly more serious geek type. I can't say there's no punk-ish people, but it's less than other schools in Ikebukuro at least."

"..."

"And if he gets to Raijin, I can examine him more easily! Hahaha, just joking. By the way, how's Shizuo-kun's doing?"

"... He cracked his skull, and broke his leg and arm."

"I can't feel surprised by this anymore... I'll go visit later when I have time. I've been wanting to see him anyway. I want to see if his recovery rate has sped up compared to when we're still in grade school."

"That would be much appreciated. Thank you, Kishitani-san. Good luck on your admission."

"No problem. Give my regards to Shizuo-kun, okay?"

"Understood. Good day, Kishitani-san."

Kasuka was glad he could talk to Kishitani Shinra.

Also, he was glad that his choice was the same with Shizuo's. True, he rarely heard bad things related to Raijin High, and the reasons Shinra said were all sounded too good to be true.

_'… Kishitani-san would be there too... Aniki wouldn't be alone...'_

All in all,Raijin High sounded perfect.

_' Ah, right... Answer... because Aniki is meant for that school. Will he accept it if I say that?'_

Kasuka shook his head slightly as he head back to Shizuo's room. He couldn't feel uncertain. He must convince his brother.

He'd bring his brother to that school even if it kills him.

Or... the people around them, whichever comes first.


	9. Chapter 9

  
When Izaya opened his eyes, he found himself on his bed with Mairu sleeping on his body.

With a grunt, he carefully moved her aside, thinking that her presence really explained the dream he had earlier, being Atlas and had to support the sky and failed to do that, which resulted in being trapped for eternity under the weight.

Mairu giggled a bit, and if she hadn't murmured something about how Kururi being naughty for teasing her in ways that normally wouldn't even be known to six year old (which made Izaya even more sure that she had turned completely into a pervert), he'd push her from his bed as punishment for giving him nightmares.

It's been like that for weeks. They did say on Christmas that they'd punish him by bugging him all day for abandoning them, but somehow they continued it anyway until pass new year. There's been many excuses which they used to justify their 'punishment extension'.

"... Present (You don't give us Christmas present)"

"Unbelievable. You're lucky we didn't tell Oka-san and Oto-san about this! We swear, next time we won't give you Christmas present again!"

That was one.

"Studying? Iza-nii, you have got to be kidding me. That's the reason you use so you don't have to bring us to the temple?!"

"Foreign? (Are you not Japanese?)"

That was two.

To tell the truth, Izaya felt that reason number three was more plausible as their main reason. They probably got scared by the horror game they hadn't finished playing, and decided that their brother could be used as shield in case the house become infested with ghosts.

For some reason, Izaya didn't mind it. Even though he growled under his breath every morning, cursed them as he prepared their meals, and even practically yelled at them every night to leave him alone in peace so that he could study (not for admission test, of course), he never pushed them away from him.

Of course, the human lover didn't realize this, and the realization only made the two girls stick to him more like stamp to an envelope.

Speaking of inseparable, Izaya frowned as he look back at the sleeping girl. There was something weird about the sight of Mairu, with her long hair let loose, clinging to a bolster. It was like something was missing.

After rubbing his eyes, he finally realized what's wrong with the picture.

Kururi wasn't on his bed.

He cocked his eyebrow in surprise. His sisters were always in sync with each other, and almost as if they're attached at the hips like conjoined twins. In fact, perhaps it's the first time Izaya saw Mairu without her sister.

_'Well... this is not usual, but can't say it's abnormal... Did she sleep on her own downstairs, I wonder...'_

After a yawn, Izaya went down to prepare his breakfast. Before he could reach the first floor however, he stopped. The kitchen was visible from the stairs, and there was already someone cooking there.

Kururi was there, standing on to of a stool, holding what seemed to be a recipe book. Her white pajamas was covered with brown substances.

"..."

Only a word came to Izaya's mind.

Valentine.

Normally, a six-year-old wouldn't make chocolate for someone, but knowing what kinds of knowledge already entered his sisters' mind, Izaya wasn't that much surprised. He just shook his head and approached the girl.

"Morning."

He said from behind her. Surprised, the small girl let out a yelp and fell backwards.

"Awake? (You surprised me)."

"The fact that you're here without your sister surprised me too."

Izaya said as he peeked at what Kururi was making, his hands supporting her small back to prevent her from hitting the floor. The older of the twins flushed visibly.

"Surprise... (You're not supposed to know)."

"Well, I'm sorry then. Who are you making if for? Mairu?"

After a long pause, Kururi nodded.

"... Whatever, just give me room to make breakfast, okay?"

She nodded once more and back to her cooking.

* * *

"Why are we still here?"

"We're here to take care of the plants, of course."

"Shinra, we're already this close to admission test. Shouldn't we, you know, quit the club?"

Izaya asked as he watched Shinra watering the plants. The bespectacled boy laughed.

"I know right? I'm surprised that the teachers allowed me to continue too."

Izaya groaned, already expecting what would come next.

"Suits me well though."

And there it was, the thing that told him that he's going to be stuck there until they graduated.

"Just kidding."

"What?"

He asked, surprised, with raised eyebrows.

"I'm helping Shizuo with his studies starting tomorrow, so I don't think I can maintain the club much longer."

"Shizuo...?"

"Yep. His brother asked me to."

Heiwajima Kasuka... huh?

Izaya hummed in confirmation.

Back then, when he first heard of the boy, he'd decided that it's weird for Shinra had someone he could call his friend. Although the description people said about their relationship didn't sound like it at all. It sounded more like Shinra forcing himself on Shizuo for the sake of his obsession to science.

Beside his love to the Headless Rider, Izaya had found that his only passion was to science after all.

And so he researched this Heiwajima Shizuo, and so it's natural that Izaya knew about his brother.

"He's going here to Raijin. How awesome is that?"

"... this is the first time I've heard of it."

"Well, it's not really something people talk about. On second thought, since it's Shizuo, maybe it is, huh? I did get the impression that Kasuka filed his admission without him knowing."

"Who is he, a model or something?"

"He's handsome enough to be one. Kasuka is good looking too. At least, according to Celty. I'm a guy. I don't swing that way, so I wouldn't know."

Izaya snorted.

Shinra wasn't interested at all in human beings in term of affection.

He only saw them as guinea pigs, he'd realized.

"Well, good luck then."

"Thanks. I'll make sure he gets in here. And then I'll introduce you."

He said it as if he was certain Izaya would follow him to Raijin High, despite knowing that Izaya had applied to many schools. Realizing it, the raven haired boy only rolled his crimson eyes.

"Hey, Izaya. If you're not doing anything, can you do me a favor?"

"... what do you want?"

"Practice with me."

"Practice... what?"

Shinra turned to him and put on an apologetic face.

"You know that today's Valentine, right?"

"... yes?"

"Well, I'm nervous because I'm giving Celty this today."

Shinra put away the sprinkler to give Izaya the piece of paper from his bag.

It took Izaya a full minute to respond with...

"You have got to be kidding me."

"I'm not!"

"You're 15! How did you even get this?!"

"I know people. Well, my dad knows people."

"You ask your dad, the underground doctor, to ask people, who're most likely yakuzas, to get you a  _marriage certificate request_?"

Izaya asked incredulously. Shinra nodded in all seriousness in response.

With a sigh, few minutes later, Izaya threw the said paper to the table and shook his head in disbelief.

"You know what, I don't want to know anymore. Will you let me say no?"

"You know I won't."

Izaya sighed once more.

"Fine. Let's get it over with."

Long story short, the next day Izaya had to deal with suppressing circulating rumors that he was engaged to Shinra. As he fiddled with his knife, he wondered if it's allowed to make the false rumor, that he had stabbed the doctor to be, true.

* * *

During lunch break, Izumii found himself at the rooftop, a place where people rarely visits. Usually, he'd eat his lunch in the classroom, with his friends, but not that day. When he was just about to take out his lunchbox, the Orihara twins (or Mairu, to be exact, with her sister trotting behind) dragged him to his current location.

The younger twin didn't seem to care that he's injured, and so even after she let him go, the pain stung like nothing else. If he wasn't used to pain he would have cried by now.

Instead, the boy just sighed.

"What do you want?"

Mairu was grinning from ear to ear.

"Aochi~, do you know what day is it today?"

She asked with the nickname she'd developed over break.

"Uh... wednesday?"

"Duh! I mean, what's significant about today?!"

"..."

And then, he noticed it.

The fidgeting older twin was holding something on her back.

And then his face turned visibly red.

Mairu laughed.

"Hehehe, you've noticed, haven't you?"

"... shut up."

"Well I'm not going to! Aochi, we brought you here for one thing and one thing only! Well, actually, Kuru-nee was the one who asked for you, but whatever!"

She said with voice so loud, it made Izumii wonder if she did it on purpose to let the children tailing them, and hiding in the stairs, heard them.

 

" _He's getting chocolate!"_

" _No fair, Izumii's getting chocolate from the Oriharas!"_

" _I bet it's thanks for the other day. You know, that incident!"_

 

Izumii could faintly hear them speaking.

"Right. So... do you say yes? You agree, don't you! Say yes, I command thee to!"

"Please... (I'm begging you)"

With still flushing cheeks, Izumii nodded.

"Thanks Aochi! You're the best. Kuru-nee, aren't you happy? So then, I'm going to step aside and just watch, okay? Good luck, Kuru-nee!"

Kururi gulped visibly before taking a step closer to Izumii.

"Favor... (I need your help)."

She said with a voice barely a whisper.

"Eh?"

Now it's her turn to have her cheeks turned red.

"Show... brother (Please act as my brother)"

"... what?"

 

" _Nii-sama, happy Valentine."_

 

She said next, a bag of chocolate at hand, and Mairu guffawed.

It took a minute for Izumii to realize his current situation.

"I should have known..."

He said with a sigh.

Looking towards the stairs, the children were already gone. Izumii sighed again.

That Mairu... She's doing it on purpose.

"Look, Kururi, I don't know your brother, so I wouldn't know how he'd respond to it."

"Same... always (you're similar to him, just do what you'd normally do)"

He sighed again, took the chocolate from her hands and with a forced smile thanked her.

She looked up at his face, for a moment he's afraid that she'd feel disappointed because he couldn't act well and his smile couldn't seem natural enough, but contrary to his fear, Kururi smiled.

She really smiled widely.

Seemingly relieved.

Izumii wondered why.

"Thanks (I owe you)."

"No-no prob."

He responded as he gave back the bag of chocolate. Kururi accepted it again with a nod.

And then he turned to the younger twin.

"Mairu, I'm mad, you know."

She was holding her stomach, still laughing hard.

It was doubtful that she heard him.

As if her laugh was contagious, in the end, Izumii couldn't help but to smile too.


	10. Chapter 10

“Please marry me.”

“No.”

Izaya's respond to the kneeling bespectacled boy was immediate. Even so, it was obvious that Shinra wasn't satisfied. He pouted before standing up and crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“Izaya, be serious.”

“I am serious.”

“Then stop fiddling with your knife and answer me seriously!”

Izaya, who was indeed fiddling with his switchblade, stopped, sighed, and turned to him.

“You seriously think that the expected respond from your dear beloved Celty isn't a kick to your abdomen?”

“... Good point.”

“And there you have it. Can I go now?”

“NO!”

Izaya was not surprised.

He knew that to Shinra, the unbelievably silly thing was important, and so when he snapped, Izaya was not surprised. He was also not surprised to see him pointing something sharp at him.

It was that something sharp which did surprise him.

There was lots of sharp things in the laboratory, but Izaya had never seen what Shinra's holding in the room, nor in Shinra's possession. Where he hid a  _ scalpel _  on his body was beyond Izaya. He didn't remember seeing him taking it out of his pocket, and he was sure that he'd seen Shinra taking off his jacket often. Surely not there.

“I'm not letting you go until you say yes!”

Shinra said as he pointed his scalpel at Izaya's face. From the way he held it, Izaya knew he'd been using it for a long time. It's different from the way thugs hold their knives. Shinra held it like a professional surgeon.

Even so, Izaya had no doubt that he could really attack people with it. He could also cut conscious moving people open, not only those who're drugged and lying on his couch.

With the power of love, for some reason that thought came to his mind, and so he laughed a bit because of it.

To an outsider, if there was any, it'd seem as if he's not worried at all, even though it's the farthest from the truth.

To tell the truth, Izaya was terrified.

Unlike Shinra, he had no confident in his skill with a knife. After the stabbing incident, he started carrying knife around to reinforce the rumor. He wanted everyone to think that he was a knifenut. When there's inspection few months back, he deliberately put it in his bag just for that reason.

Needless to say, Izaya's wielding skill was practically non-existent. He only used it to threat people after all.

And Shinra knew it. Izaya had no doubt that he knew.

“... the bell is ringing soon.”

“There's nothing after this and you know it. No one is looking for us.”

Izaya fixed his stance and flicked his switchblade.

“Are you holding me hostage, Shinra?”

“Yes.”

With a smile, he raised his blade.

And then, surprisingly (later on that day, Izaya deemed he was enough surprised by humanity for a day and the fact that his daily surprise dose was given entirely by Shinra taught him who's to look when he's bored) Shinra tilted his head and with a wide smile ask, “Oh, I just noticed. Is it new?”

“I've had it since Christmas. And this is the first time I've seen you with your scalpel too.”

He answered curtly.

“... ceramic. I'm guessing it's what you used in your story. You dissected Celty with it, didn't you?”

“Yep.”

Shinra nodded enthusiastically. Izaya laughed at his reaction.

“You're good, Izaya. Hm... about your knife... Well, I don't know anything, really. I just know you started bringing knife around since after that unfortunate incident with Nakura. Poor guy. He must be scared out of his mind, not knowing you're not really used to wielding knives.”

“... heh.”

“But I know, Izaya. And I want to hurry home and propose Celty too! So, let's just lower our blades and continue, okay? I'll let you go after you say yes.”

“You want me to be serious, don't you? I seriously doubt she'll ever say yes.”

“Then help me.”

Izaya forced himself to sigh. He could do this. He could talk Shinra out of this.

He made note to himself to look up videos of knife-wielding fighter later at home. He's so going to practice knife-wielding in case something like this happen again.

“Shinra, I'm acting as Celty now.”

“Uhm, yeah?”

“Are you planning to threaten her with your scalpel when she kicked you? And I say when because I seriously doubt she'd say yes.”

Shinra wavered a little. He gaped, seemingly horrified.

“I would never threaten her!”

“And here we are.”

Izaya could feel sweat rolling down on his back, but he forced himself to smile.

They stood in silence for a while, pointing their blades to each other's faces, until finally, Shinra lowered his first and dropped it to the floor with a clang.

“... you're right.”

Izaya tried hard not to sigh in relief, although he did allow himself to lower his blade.

“You're right... Please, one more time. Let me try one more time.”

“One more time.”

“Yeah. Whatever your respond will be, we can go back to class afterwards.”

They're engulfed in silence again. Izaya eyed Shinra curiously. The boy was obviously planning something, and Izaya felt the need to scram for some odd reason. Bells were ringing in his mind. If only Shinra wasn't blocking the door...

After what felt like forever, Shinra moved.

And then, he hugged Izaya.

“I love you, Izaya,” he said, because for some reason no matter how hard he tried he couldn't call him 'Celty', “please marry me.”

Shinra's figure had hidden the view of the door, but now Izaya could see it clearly. He locked gaze with a boy, Izaya noticed that he was his junior, who had his hand in a fist an inch away from the door, as if he was about to knock. He probably was. His face was bright red.

Noticing that Izaya had seen him, the boy took a step back before running away.

"I'm... I'm sorry!"

Izaya sighed.

For some reason, his mood has changed drastically. It's like he'd been doused and what replaced his wariness was pure rage. So, he pushed Shinra away and smiled genuinely before punching his face and kicking his gut.

The bell signaling the start of class managed to hide Shinra's scream.

 

* * *

 

"Aochi~ Stop pouting will you? It's just a prank."

Izumii put on the most serious looking expression he had and responded to the younger twin by sticking his tongue out.

"Now you're just being childish."

"I'm six. I'm allowed to be childish."

"Well, that's true, huh."

After what happened in the rooftop, the twins had followed him back to class and ate their lunch at his table. Truthfully, he was rather glad that they did. If they hadn't, surely the boys would come at him and demand explanation.

Not that there was anything to explain.

It was just a misunderstanding. 

For some reason, the fact annoyed him a bit though, and he realized that from the way he ate his onigiri everyone could sense his dark mood.

"... regret (I'm really sorry)"

"Don't worry, Kururi. It's entirely Mairu's fault."

"Guilt (it's my fault too)"

"Yep, yep. Kuru-nee isn't innocent here. After all, when we prank someone, we always act as one!"

Izumii eyed the twins. Kururi had nodded in agreement with her sister's words, and Mairu was smiling from ear to ear.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but for some reason I have no doubt that the first person you pranked was Kojima."

They nodded in unison. Slight smile could be seen in Kururi's face, while Mairu was outright giggling. Izumii sighed. That would mean he was the second person. If it's Kojima, he could understand. But him... whatever had he done to them?

"And here I thought you think of me as your friend."

"We do."

"Normal (friends prank each other)."

"So that's why you approached Kojima after she came back to school? Whoever taught you that? No, wait. Don't answer. Let me guess. It's your brother."

They nodded once more, and Izumii sighed once more, audibly this time. He hadn't seen this brother of theirs, only hearing from the rumors, but even so he decided then that he hated this person called Orihara Izaya.

He stabbed his karage as he thought that. The twins winced slightly at the sight, but their smiles didn't falter.

“Forgive? (Are we good?)”

“... is it just me, or are you girls really don't want to promise you won't ever prank me again?”

“Of course we'll prank you again, Aochi. Let's face it, you're quite boring as a person. Nice, but boring. Pranks are necessary to spice things up!”

“True (what she said)”

He stabbed another karage.

What bad luck... He made a note for himself, to stay quiet in case some other bullying case got into teacher's attention. If what he'd get was a couple of prankster forcing themselves into him like this, really. No thank you.

He had enough on his hands.

Really... what he wanted was just some peace and quiet at school. Was it too much to ask?

“Can I just please stop being your friend then?”

Mairu gasped in horror, while Kururi seemed indifferent and just sipped her juice.

“WHAT?!”

“Really, not that I don't like your pranks and all, it's just... well, I don't like them.”

Izumii wished he could see those two in the face as he said it, but for some reason he couldn't. Somehow, he found the content of his usual lunch box to be interesting.

“Aochi... are you serious?”

“Yep,” he answered as he played with his karage.

“Aaah...”

Despite the obvious disappointment that could be heard in her tone, Izumii knew how this would turn out. He held his breath and closed his eyes as he waited the inevitable.

“Well, truthfully, we don't care either way, right, Kuru-nee?”

Kururi stayed silent, but judging from Mairu's giggle a second later, Izumii guessed that the older twin had nodded. Izumii sighed again.

“Please spare me...”

“You know that's impossible, right Aochi? Friends or not, we'll always be with you.”

“Marriage (till death do us apart and all that)”

“Oh, good one, Kuru-nee. Yep yep. In sickness and health and all that. Well, in your case might be in sickness all the time. Bandages aside, we know deep inside you're sick after all.”

“Similar (you're very much like our brother).”

“Uh huh. Maybe that's why we find you lovable.”

“I'm pretty sure your mind is sicker than mine, Mairu.”

“Hey! That's not fair. You should compliment Kuru-nee too! We're one after all.”

“Want (yes, what she said)”

As he chewed on his karage, Izumii wondered what he could do to escape the mess he was in.

It'd take years before he could appreciate their words. When he could, it would already be forgotten.

 

 


End file.
